Often referred to simply as ‘Ubon’, Ubon Ratchathani is a likeable city in the southeast of Isaan, close to the borders with Laos and Cambodia. Its main claim to fame is as host of the annual Ubon Candle Festival, which coincides with the beginning of the rains retreat in July, when monks stay in their temples during ‘Buddhist Lent’ for three months. For the festival, each of the town’s temples creates a giant sculpture made of beeswax, and these sculptures are then paraded round town on floats.

Ubon’s sights

There’s little to see in the city centre apart from a model of a giant candle sculpture in Thung Si Muang Park, though the nearby temple of the same name, Wat Thung Si Muang, features a beautiful teak library set on stilts in a pond. Like most Thai towns, Ubon has a lively night market that sets up each evening at the south end of Thung Si Muang Park, offering tasty grilled meat on skewers, typical Thai dishes and fruit shakes.

Around Ubon